Yay! The Inventors and the City of Stolen Souls has just been delivered and it looks sooooooooo great! I honestly didn't think the thrill of having a second book out would match the excitement of seeing the first, but I'm pleased to report that I was wrong. I got the same heart-pounding, sweaty-palmed, tingling-scalp feeling pulling the first copy out of the box Faber sent me as I did last year when I first saw The Inventors!

The best thing about having two books is that I can put them together on the shelf. The Inventors was getting a bit lonely up there by itself (it did have my creative writing books to keep it company, but they didn't really talk to each other much, fiction and non-fiction just don't seem to get on that well). The covers go perfectly, and the spines match as well, making them look like purple and red peas in a pod! I could sit and look at them all day, and in fact have done ever since they arrived. I really should get on...

But I do just want to take this opportunity to say a HUGE thanks to everyone at Faber who worked so hard on the book, especially my editor Julia, her assistant Emily, plus, as always, Helena, Susan and Kate. Once again you've made mine and Jamie's dreams come true and we will be forever grateful!

To celebrate the book coming out we had a lovely lunch at mum's on Sunday, complete with a bottle of champagne (ooo, la de da!) and lots of crisps (that's more like it). It was a really nice excuse for the family to get together, with my sister and her husband coming over and even my gran hobbling up the road to join the fun. The highlight of the day had to be playing Pictionary, although Jamie and I were beaten by Kate and Simon. But they are married, so can probably read each other's minds, which is cheating obviously.

Anyway, I really had better get on. We're driving down (across?) to Hay tomorrow for the festival and I've lost the cable thingy that goes with my sat nav. And if I don't have the nice lady telling me where to go then I'll end up in Bolton.Hope to see some of you down there!